STOCKTON - Mailbox break-ins and thefts continue to plague at least one north Stockton neighborhood, causing the residents extreme frustration.

At least five community mailboxes serving as many as 80 homes were broken into Sunday night or Monday morning in the Stonewood neighborhood north of Mosher Slough and west of Lower Sacramento Road, according to eyewitness accounts, although U.S. postal inspection authorities and police were not yet able to provide confirmation.

"It's a huge problem in our neighborhood. I wish we could catch the guy," neighborhood resident Candy Pierucci said. Pierucci said she believes her mailbox was pried open Monday morning as she was checking up on her 92-year-old mother, who lives nearby and whose own mailbox was broken into sometime during the night.

"My mother doesn't drive anymore, so that's a problem, since she can't drive to the post office. How does she get her mail if they won't release it to me?" Pierucci asked.

She said her mother's group mailbox was repaired just last week after being rendered unusable by a New Year's Eve break-in.

Jeff Lee, the Stonewood Neighborhood Watch coordinator since 2011, said the thief or thieves have been targeting older-style community boxes with a USPS sticker on the side. He said he believes the metal is thinner than newer models and includes an opening for outgoing mail that criminals can slip a pry bar into and pop the door open, giving them full access to whatever is inside.

"Twenty-four of the 48 mailboxes in Stonewood are the older ones. We are quite vulnerable. There are some real old ones they don't hit for some reason," said Lee, adding that the problem has become so pervasive he conducted his own survey of the neighborhood mailboxes.

Stockton police have seen an uptick of reports of mailbox break-ins since December and appreciate the efforts of Neighborhood Watch groups to continue reporting efforts. But while police records show four reports during that time period, not including the most recent incidents, Lee said he has called police 13 times to make a report.

Police spokesman Officer Joe Silva said what information his department does have regarding mail thieves is "very limited so far. We have seen it happen in other places in the city. Once again, we continue to ask for the community's help. If they see someone doing this, call us and give us a real good description of the suspect or suspects."

Lee said his group has been constantly alerting neighbors - both over the backyard fence and through Facebook - to pick up their mail as early as possible every day.

"There are a number of surveillance cameras in our neighborhood. We've networked a lot of them in the neighborhood to spot cars scoping out things," Lee said.

"We have patrols on weekends. We urge people not to use the outgoing mailbox, because it's happening all the time. As things get worse, people are stooping lower and lower," he said.

Pierucci said she is "religious" about picking up her mail every day, except in the most recent theft. She's worried about what she might have lost because she didn't pick up her mail from Saturday.

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/goldeenblog and on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.